


you can't forget

by Maven_Fair



Series: in a state of dreaming [3]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Backstory, Canon Compliant, Canon Universe, Child Abandonment, Gen, Mentions of Death, Mentions of Violence, One Shot, i love niki so much so she gets a happy backstory lol, not beta read we faint like tubbo, part of a series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:21:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27732970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maven_Fair/pseuds/Maven_Fair
Summary: Eret remembers feeling like he was floating, when the debtors first arrived. | The spheres in the little pouch attached to George’s belt are always heavy. | Niki first comes across the two boys when she’s delivering her goods to a small village on the outskirts of a server. | Dream knows the time has come when the two bounty hunters make their way to the borders of his land.Everyone's here. Some are a little early, though.
Relationships: BadBoyHalo & Skeppy, GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Niki | Nihachu & Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Zak Ahmed & Darryl Noveschosch
Series: in a state of dreaming [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2023670
Kudos: 24





	you can't forget

Eret remembers feeling like he was floating, when the debtors first arrived. He didn’t want to believe it. He got yelled at a few times for asking what was happening, as well. But Eret knew what the men in black suits meant, he just didn’t want to believe it. After all, things like bankruptcy and unpaid loans and debt seemed to happen to other people, never to people like Eret’s family.

Except now they do, and Eret has to pack up all of his toys and clothes and is told to leave his books because _they take up too much space, Eret, and we all have to make sacrifices!_ He’s even told to leave behind the miniature potion making set that he spent four months pulling weeds and delivering newspapers for. He tries not to cry as his family sells it off to the blacksmith’s daughter across the street, but a few stray tears leave his eyes. His older sister holds his hand as they do. Their father tells them to hurry up and pack.

Leaving the house isn’t even the hardest part, nor is the packing or the selling of his things to neighbors that offered no sympathy. The hardest part is when they sling their baggage over their shoulders and begin to walk away from the only place Eret has ever known. They make their way past the last fence, stepping forth into the area that Eret’s mother always told him to avoid. He clutches his sister's hand the whole way. 

They left at dawn and by the time they come across another town it’s far past noon. The sun is orange in the sky, threatening to set. Eret’s parents begin to buy things that they never had any use for before - things like armor, monster hunter non-perishable foods, and weapons. They don’t buy any for themselves, though, only the sizes that fit Eret and his sister. The hand that’s still tucked in his sister’s gets squeezed so tightly that Eret worries his hand will break. “We need to keep you two safe, alright?” their father says. “Just make sure to pay attention as we put the armor on you.”

Before this moment Eret only ever owned a wooden sword. Now, he holds a stone one, it’s edges blunt but heavy and dangerous. His sister clutches an iron one in her hands. As he looks up at her face, her lips are pursed and eyebrows scrunched up, like she’s worried about something. Eret doesn’t know what she’s worried about, though, but squeezes her hand in assurance. She looks like she’s about to cry when he does it.

“We’ve got to get going,” their mother says. Night is just about to fall, the last vestiges of the sun fading away. Eret’s old teacher always warned them that traveling at night wasn’t a good idea, but he knows better than to tell his parents that. They never seemed very happy when he went against what they were saying. 

“The end of the server is just around here,” his father whispers. Eret’s sister clutches his hand even tighter, pulling him close to her side and further away from their parents. She moves her other hand to the hilt of her sword. Eret closes his eyes, trying to hear where the monsters are. 

He can feel when they enter a new server. It’s like a sharp jolt, as the chat changes and the server rules get told to him in a split second. His hand gets squeezed tightly again, and Eret finds it comforting that his sister is just as startled by the new server as he is. 

“Eret,” his father says. He takes him over to the side, next to a tree. “Mom and Dad need to go. We’ll be right back. We forgot something at the village.” The torch that his father is holding is given to him, and Eret clutches it in his left hand like a lifeline. 

“You won’t be gone too long though, right?” he asks. “I don’t like being in the dark.” Eret is so small that he can’t quite make out the expression on his father’s face, the torch only illuminating a small area.

“No,” his father says. His mother stops talking to Eret’s sister, and doesn’t say anything but squeezes his shoulder as they make their way back through the forest they were going through. Eret doesn’t know how they could manage to find their way back, since they took a pretty confusing route to the new server.

“Eret,” his sister says. She pushes her hand back into his and kneels down to look him in the eyes. The iron helmet on her shines in the torchlight. Eret wishes he had iron armor, too, not just the stone stuff. “Promise - ” she cuts herself off, voice choked. “Promise me you’ll stay right here, yeah? I’ve gotta go tell Mom and Dad that I forgot something, too.”

“Everyone’s really forgetful today,” Eret says, laughing. His sister doesn’t laugh back. 

“I love you, Eret, never forget that. I'll be back.” She cups his head, kissing his cheek. Eret leans away from it, nose crinkling in disgust. His sister sniffles. "I'll be back, I swear."

And then she’s gone, moving into the forest. She doesn’t even let him say it back, and Eret pouts a little to himself as he sets the torch down to sit on a block of dirt. He can’t even tell if she went the same way as their parents, the forest too confusing and dark. 

Eret sits there the whole night, waiting for his parents and sister to come back. He eats some bread and cheese from his bag (he had complained about being the only one to carry the food, but now he’s grateful) and attempts to practice his sword fighting. As the day goes on, Eret becomes more and more worried about his family. But he doesn’t move from his spot. Rule one of being lost: stay where they last found you.

But then the night comes, and Eret hides in a bush as zombies and creepers pass by his area. The torch has long since sputtered out, leaving him in frightening darkness. The bush he’s in isn’t enough, though, and he finds himself running for his life as skeletons start to shoot at him. He runs and runs and runs, stone sword abandoned as it weighs him down far too much. His foot snags on a rock and he goes tumbling down, and Eret knows this will be the first time he dies. He closes his eyes, waiting for the inevitable arrow, but it never comes.

He opens his eyes and looks up. Suddenly, he’s in a town center, body free of injury and covered in enchanted iron armor. He stares in disbelief at the area around him, before a whisper notification enters his mind.

_Dream whispers to you: I will come to find you in the future. Stay safe. Become strong. The emblem on your sword will protect you._

He tries to send a message back, but for some reason the server won’t let him. But Eret takes the words to heart. Stay safe so that you won’t die before meeting Dream. Become strong so that nobody can abandon you. And most importantly: trust only the emblem on your sword and the person who saved you.

  
  


* * *

The spheres in the little pouch attached to George’s belt are always heavy. He runs his fingers through them at night, feelings the smooth surfaces of them slide over his fingertips. He currently has seven of them, far more than any person should have in their whole life. Despite the fact that thinking about the spheres makes him nauseous, he still finds himself constantly fiddling with them. It’s his nervous tick.

They’re probably really disgusting. George doesn’t clean them (neither does Sapnap, or any other bounty hunter). Not that you need to clean them, either. George can’t imagine looking at the sphere long enough to clean them. They were only about the size of a gumball, scarlet in color, and near impossible to break unless you knew how.

There’s an art to wielding the spheres that only bounty hunters know. Any person could come across these things and not know what they could do. But the maker, some rich man living it up in Hypixel or Mineplex probably, was smart enough to make actually using the spheres harder than throwing them. 

Firstly, there’s a small indent along the side of the spheres. It’s almost unnoticeable, even when you’re looking for it. You then need to take the specialized pin (the one that George keeps on the inner linings of his goggles’ temples) and slowly puncture it. Don’t rush it, but don’t go too slowly either. The pin needs to fully pierce the other side. Take the pin out and store it somewhere safe, because every hunter is only given one in their whole lifetime. Push the now-punctured sphere into the mouth of your mark. Make them bite down on it.

Then behead them. You need to wait for their bodies to fully release the lingering blood. Bring the head to your client in a box, after cleaning up the neck and sewing the skin together. Go to a local bar and try to drown your guilt in expensive alcohol that you couldn’t afford before.

George and Sapnap have only used their spheres five times between the two of them. A couple years ago they came across one of the other bounty hunters from their classes. The other man bragged about how well he was doing - having to restock his ten spheres five times. George remembers waiting outside the bathroom to their former guild as Sapnap puked out his complimentary steak.

They could probably afford to live comfortably if they sold the remaining fifteen spheres they had on them to black market traders. The spheres went for hundreds of gold pieces each, since they could only be retrieved from licensed bounty hunters. But the punishment for selling them was too high to risk it. A life in prison, tortured and alone, kept alive only to show an example to other bounty hunters.

George is fiddling with the spheres when they finally come a couple hundred blocks away from the coordinates that they found on the tree next to the block headed man, Skeppy. He fiddles with them as he realizes what might happen next. It may be the last time he’ll have to use the horrible spheres. 

Neither of them told Skeppy what their professions were. They hoped the hyperactive but kind man wouldn’t immediately turn on them when he finds out what was happening. Sapnap and George knew, as they approached the new server, that Clay was somewhere around. Bounty hunter’s intuition, maybe. As George swallowed hard, nerves on-edge, he told himself that there was no other option.

Until suddenly there was.

  
  


* * *

Niki first comes across the two boys when she’s delivering her goods to a small village on the outskirts of a server. They’re young - far too young to be traveling, in her opinion - and desperately in need of some good food and rest. The taller boy, Tommy, tries to deny it, but he can see it in their eyes that they’re tired. Tubbo, the boy who carried a folded cardboard box, even learned a bit about baking in the four days she stayed with them in the village. It was far longer than she was planning, but Niki couldn’t find it in herself to feel guilty.

They were just children, after all. So much younger than herself. They were both thin, too, although Tubbo was far more so. Despite the fact that Tommy carried an enchanted diamond sword and diamond armor (most of it being worn by Tubbo), Niki still slipped them extra money when she finally had to leave them. Just enough to hopefully keep them afloat for a little longer. She also sends them away with two bottles of honey milk, one loaf of bread, a block of cheese, and some non-perishables.

In their last moments together Niki even got the courage to offer them a place at her bakery. There was no way either of them would be able to help out for at least a year, but she still couldn’t bear to think about what their lives would be like on the road. She knew, in her heart, that her little bakery couldn’t support the three of them. Even the food she gave them put herself back substantially.

But she still asked, and she could feel from the moment that the words left her lips that she wouldn’t get the answer she wanted back. Tommy and Tubbo still smiled brightly at her, hugging her tightly as she left. 

Making her way back to her little bakery two towns over is hard. All that’s on her mind is the two boys and whether or not they’re safe, what they’re doing, if she should’ve slipped more food or money to them. Her worries follow her through that night, through the morning baking preparations, through the smaller deliveries she makes, and onto the next day as well.

She thinks about Tommy and Tubbo a lot. Her bakery was mostly held afloat through deliveries and bulk orders, so she had a lot of time to think as she made the batches. _Not everyone has the patience to bake,_ her parents had told her. _It may not always pay well, but it’s an honest profession. The joy we bring to people through food can create lifelong bonds._ Niki took those words to heart, even after she moved away from her hometown to start up her very own bakery. It’s surprising how much people will open up after eating a pastry or two.

Niki had met a lot of different people in her travels. She didn’t always remember all of them, the days passing in blurs most of the time, but there were quite a few memorable people. Tommy and Tubbo, for one, two boys against the world. There was also the flirtatious bard that she ended up helping back to his room after finding him passed out drunk in a bar. Or the passing gladiator with a terrifying bone mask from Hypixel. Or the two bounty hunters she ran into a few months ago, looking far too worse for wear after being yelled at in the middle of a city. 

No matter who they were, all of them deserved at least a little extra joy in their lives. So Niki offers them bread, croissants, danishes, trusting her gut as she carefully selects the gift for each person. Helping people has always been her goal in life, after all. She always rejected any attempts at being repaid, telling them that kindness for a reward isn’t kindness at all. Most people are content after hearing this.

So it comes as a surprise when she wakes up one day to a man with a gift for her outside her bakery. 

“Hello?” she says, opening the door. Despite the fact that she usually wakes up at 5am to begin baking, she’s still a little drowsy as she attempts to take in the person in front of her. He’s wearing black leather pants, a lime green hoodie (which is an interesting choice, Niki supposes), and has a bow, quiver of arrows, and an enchanted diamond axe hanging on his back. His face is handsome, a strong jawline with freckles lining his cheeks and bright emerald eyes staring back at hers. His hands are full of a large package with an official-looking paper on top. 

“This is Nihachu’s Corner, right?” the man asks. Niki nods, still surprised to have someone come by so early. It doesn’t help that his face is making her head pound, as though she’s seen it before. But where? “I’ve got a cake commission for you.”

“For me?” she asks. It’s not often that people actually commission cakes from her - usually, she’s stuck making simply pastries or breads. Not many people had the money to splurge for cake, and of those who do, they don’t bother with buying from some random no-name bakery.

“You are Nihachu, right?” the man asks.

“Just Niki is fine,” she says. The man smiles warmly at her, and Niki smiles back. There was something about the man that told Niki she could trust him. Although she was still certain she knew his face from somewhere.

“I already bought all of the ingredients you’ll need in here. I also have half of the payment, as well. The specifics are on the paper,” he says, nodding down at the box in his hands.

The situation finally catches up with Niki’s shocked brain. She gasps. “I’ve been so rude,” she says, pushing the door fully open. “Come in, come in, that must be so heavy!” The cold outside air fills the warm bakery’s interior as the man sets the box down onto the counter. 

“It’s fine,” he says, still smiling. Niki hovers around him, nervously trying to figure out whether or not he was offended. “People have done worse to me than be rightfully suspicious.”

“Still,” Niki says, but she cracks a smile all the same. “Would you like anything? Some tea, maybe a muffin?”

“I’m alright, thank you,” the man says. He puts a hand into his hoodie pocket and pulls out a sack of coins. Niki involuntarily gasps as he sets it down next to the box, and she blushes as the man laughs at her reaction. “Half of the payment.” 

“I - ” she starts, before the man cuts her off.

“I’ve got to get going,” he says. “Some things to do before the cakes are needed. We’re celebrating the beginning of a new server, you know. Can’t spend too much on it, but preparations are a pain.” And then he’s gone, with only a gust of wind for her to say thank you to.

_Tubbo_ hyper whispers to you: hello ms. niki!!!!! Tommy and i just got to this new server. I know we didnt talk for long_

_Tubbo_ hyper whispers to you: but i remember you saying you were considering moving to a new place. I’ll send the coords in case you wanna come._

_Tubbo_ hyper whispers to you: no pressure tho!!!!!_

As Niki sits in the seating area of her bakery, the sound of every other shop on the street opening up surrounding her, she carefully counts out the amount of money in the bag (gold, not bronze or silver like she thought) and realizing just how much she could make from the commission. She then takes a look at the coordinates the masked man left her, and doubles back to Tubbo’s message. She huffs out a laugh and stands up abruptly.

Time to get working on those cakes, then.

  
  


* * *

Dream knows the time has come when the two bounty hunters make their way to the borders of his land. The coordinates he strapped to the tree next to where he tied up Skeppy were only a few hundred blocks away, after all. Nearly no other settlements were nearby. They couldn’t miss it.

He can feel Bad and Skeppy finally reunite. He smiles to himself, glad to have finally helped out the kind man who was so selfless. Bad’s happiness seeped into Dream’s body and made him untense, even if slightly. 

_You whisper to BadBoyHalo: I'm 360 blocks east of you._

_BadBoyHalo whispers to you: Dream!!!!! Oh my god you muffinhead, you left before I could ask you about stuff!!!!_

_BadBoyHalo whispers to you: Also how'd you know Skeppy would be here????_

_BadBoyHalo whispers to you: We also met these two travelers!!!!! They met you too, right???_

_BadBoyHalo whispers to you: Should I bring them?_

_You whisper to BadBoyHalo: go ahead and bring them._

Dream prepares himself to meet George and Sapnap. Really, truly meet them. He can already feel the bond that’s been created, that will grow stronger and stronger in only a few months. He reminds himself to not be too overbearing or excited with them. His whole life has led up to meeting them, after all. There are a million ways he can screw this up, but only a few hundred ways that he gets this right. 

It’s a surprise, however, when he feels the boy with the enchanted diamond sword make his way into his server. There’s another boy with him, one that Dream hasn’t met yet. But he already knows that he’ll understand the other boy better, whoever he is. But it shouldn’t be time yet. Dream isn’t ready for Tommy Innit to arrive at his server. So why is he here? 

His eyes itch. The tug at his neck loosens slightly. His heart is heavy with dread. _Something went wrong,_ the voice whispers. _I can make it better._

_No,_ he says back, and his eyes itch even worse underneath his mask. The voice slips away, but he’s still tense. There’s only one thought replaying in his mind.

_Tommy Innit shouldn’t be here yet._

  
  


* * *

Source: Introduction to Uriel Mazien’s book _The Theory of the Beginning of the Ender,_ written 2998, edited 3014, published 3015.

The question of the existence of endermen is one that has pervaded human life for as long as we have lived on this earth. Every other hostile mob has a clear trace of ancestry - zombies and skeletons from long dead humans, creepers from a failed gunpowder experiment in the 1200s, piglins, striders, and spiders were mutated forms of their non hostile ancestors. But endermen seemed to have no clear origin. 

There are many myths surrounding the origin of endermen. The first recorded myth is from the 1400s, when the anonymous children’s author Bower Casting published the short story _Myra and Mr. Enderman._ Casting was well-known for bringing aspects of horror into their children’s stories in order to warn them of the horrors of life, and this story was no different. Myra, a young girl living in a village, comes across a small black blob with eyes. The black blob slowly begins to grow at the cost of Myra’s life. It’s a dark tale that made many parents riot to the author, but one that truly shows humanity’s fear of endermen.

Another well-liked theory is that endermen were made by a god/dess to be a warning to humanity. In Enderism, the religion that worships the mythical being the Ender Dragon, endermen are seen as holy beings to remind humans of their limits. They are believed to be former beings, not unlike humans, who attempted to go against the Ender Dragon. In response, the Ender Dragon turned their species into workers for itself, meant to serve as a reminder to any and all other beings. 

In this book I hope to dive deeper into more possible origins of endermen. There are very few historical texts that actually mention endermen, as before the creation of redstone mechanics little to no humans ever ventured further than their home villages. The Burn Massacre of 1739 also contributed to the loss of many early sightings of not just endermen but various other mobs as well. But of the texts that remain I hope to reveal secrets that may have never been distributed to the public previous to this book. 

[Note: This book has been published in its unfinished form, as per the author’s wish in her will. A majority of it will be unedited in order to hopefully maintain as much authenticity as possible.]

**Author's Note:**

> niki! and! eret! supremacy! i have been looking forward to their povs for forever, you guys don’t even know. i wasn’t planning on eret and niki’s parts being so long but i honestly can’t say i regret it. sorry about the large break, but my classes literally hate me (biology, mostly). it's unlikely i'll be able to get another fic out soon either, i just don't have that much free time rn :( sorry! but just so you know, this fic marks the end of fully pre-canon events. next one we’ll be diving into that oh-so-juicy revolution arc :D


End file.
